Challengers
Challengers
Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach, transformed her husband into a champion. But to overcome a recent losing streak and redeem himself, he'll need to face off against his former best friend and Tashi's ex-boyfriend.
Varun reviewedOctober 19, 2024
I’ll admit right off the bat that I didn’t give 100% of my attention to this film and also took an hour lunch break in between, so I’m sure it affected my enjoyment but I also had some criticism to make. Firstly I do think this was a good psychosexual drama exploring the intersecting triangle dynamics of rivalry and love. But for me a lot of it didn’t click. I absolutely do not mind non-linear storytelling but I thought the back and forth was way too much in this film and it broke immersion. I didn’t feel an itching desire within me to know what defining events in the past caused a chain reaction to the present because at a certain point it got exhausting. Toxic characters can be fun to watch but I didn’t find myself caring much about any of them after the first half of the film. I also felt the slow motion was a bit excessive and cheesy. Tennis matches are already riveting by themselves so I don’t think the techno music added much, and in some scenarios felt too comical. I think the marketing and buzz around this film tried to sell how raunchy it is and I was disappointed by the lack of wildly intimate scenes. I thought the cinematography was really good and there were some really good scenes with intense dialogue and mind games. Reading some of the reviews on Letterboxd definitely enhanced my perception of the movie. I recently watched the documentary Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker, and I was absolutely transfixed by how dramatic tennis games can be, with players bringing all their life histories, desires, obsessions and pains into the game and how in return the tennis rivalries affected their wider life. I did not receive that same wondrous insight from Challengers, it had a lot of good ideas but couldn’t fully bring it together for me.